We normally start camping in April. However, because I was sick for most of April, we really didn’t get a chance. Then last week I realized that if we didn’t go camping this past weekend, we wouldn’t get another chance until the end of June. Sometimes it’s hard to fit it around other commitments, and also avoiding being gone too many weekends in a row!

I looked up campgrounds our book, found one about 2 hours away from Atlanta, and made reservations for this past weekend. I was really excited until Friday, when I happened to check the weather and found that there was a 60% chance of rain during the day, and 90% chance overnight. We debated about whether we should still go, and decided that since we’d already paid we would take our chances.

Well, it did rain all weekend. I think I’m glad we went, but now I know not to go camping in the rain again! It’s just kind of boring when it rains, and everything is so damp because of the humidity, even if they weren’t actually touching rain. Also because of the rain, we kept everything either in our tent or in the car, which was kinda a pain. I’m used to bringing everything to the campsite, and just putting the food back in the car at night. But this weekend, if we weren’t actively using it, we had it put away.

Savannah did pretty well for her first camping trip! She was a bit fussy the first night, but slept great the second night. She seemed to enjoy the outdoors. Paul and I were talking around the fire late Sunday night, and we said we hope that our kids never know a time when they weren’t camping.

Anyways, here are a few pictures!

Our campsite with the tarp that Paul rigged up. It was nice to have, but I accidentally forgot our long rope so we had to make do with what we had. So Paul had to tie one corner to the tent itself, which of course made it really low. It was fine to sit under, but would have been nice if it had been easier to get under without getting wet from the water on top of the tarp!

I’m sure this was not the best idea… But we went ahead and lit a fire in the fire pit on Sunday night, even though the tarp was over us. Paul put this stick up to keep the tarp away from the fire, and he purposefully kept the fire from getting very big. It was nice to sit around the fire, though. And it was one time during the weekend when I felt dry!

Savannah chillin’ like a villain

For Savannah’s bed, we brought one of those under-the-bed plastic containers and put a thick, soft blanket on the bottom. This worked out really well.

The challenge of camping with babies… they want to put everything in their mouth!

This state park had a lot of trails for hiking, but we were afraid of getting caught in the rain while on the trails, so we stayed fairly close to the campsite. We walked around and looked at the stuff they had to offer nearby. Then sure enough, it started pouring rain so we took shelter in a covered amphitheater. You can see the rain as it hit the lake! I was glad we were able to find a place to wait it out without getting wet.

Savannah took a nap while we were out. I guess the noise of the rain lulled her to sleep!

Then she woke up and had fun playing with Daddy. :-)

A wet weekend, but an experience. Paul said if we can get the “camping in the rain” badge now, if they had such a thing. We’d like to go back here on a sunny weekend so we could check out the hiking! I actually have been to this state park before – back in 1993 we came with my grandparents who are no longer alive. Being there reminded me of my grandparents, and that made me happy.